Chocolate
by shuramiyaki
Summary: Some people consider chocolate to be an aphrodisiac. Enrico just sees it as another way to fluster Anderson. An AAxEM fic.


191: Chocolate

"The Lord has truly blessed me with this day." A sedate baritone voice drifted out across the still garden, introducing a human melody into the cheerful chorus of songbirds that were joining the man in enjoying such a marvelous day. The beautiful weather that day had summoned Enrico from out of his transition office at the orphanage; it's beckoning call all too irresistible to the cooped-up man. No matter how many grudges he still had against the place, he still greatly appreciated its remote, charming gardens that had always provided for him peaceful retreats whenever he couldn't stand the stress of his constant workload for a moment longer. Or whenever he just felt like indulging himself in an old personal pleasure of his. The halcyon weather and gentle, soothing rays had in no time lulled the uptight man into a state of-

"Enrico!"

Maxwell jerked his head around in the direction of the call, the all-too-familiar voice pulling him out of his restful reverie. Stretching out on the bench he was lounging upon, he sleepily rolled over on his stomach to watch as Anderson trotted over.

"Hello, Anderson, what brings you out here?" Enrico yawned, bracing his arms on the armrest and pushing himself up, arching his back like a roused feline awakening from a catnap.

"Joos' wanted tae see where ye were, et's odd tae see ye out o' yer office."

Enrico groaned, his back protesting to the switch to an upright posture. "You could have called me, I always have my phone on me in case anyone desires to remind me for the fourth or fifth time of a meeting I have coming up." Twisting his neck to side to side, he grunted in relief when his neck finally readjusted.

"Ah did call ye, boot et went straight tae voicemail."

"What? Oh, don't tell me." He muttered in frustration, digging around his back pocket for his mobile. "Perfect. Turns out I turned it off. I wonder how many missed calls I have now."

"Dinnae beh tae hard en yer'self, et looks ye were trying tae enjoy the nice day, et makes sense if ye dinnae want tae beh disturbed." Anderson sat down close to the other man, who was busy searching through the phone's call histories.

"I wouldn't be so hard on myself if it wasn't part of my job to be disturbed on a daily basis. Speaking of which, what is the reason you decided to chase me down on this fine day?"

"Nae particular reason, joos' wanted tae ken where ye were."

Enrico scoffed. "Can't stand it for one second to not know where each and every member of your brood is, right?" As he shoved his phone into a side pocket, he noticed out of the corner of his eye Anderson rifling around in one of the ones inside his cassock.

"Nothing wrong wit tha'." Upon the withdrawal of his hand, a bar of chocolate was revealed. Casually, like this was nothing unusual, he unwrapped the treat and, after removing a glove, snapped a piece off and proceeded to gnaw on it.

"Were you just carrying that around or is that how you planned to reward yourself for finding me?"

"Very funny, but noo, Ah was merely carrying et around." Quickly polishing off the first piece, he broke off another. "O, how rude o' meh." He held out the piece strangely close up to Enrico's mouth. "'Ave ae bite, et's the guid kind, and et's dark, Ah ken ye like tha'."

The close proximity of the offering unsettled Enrico for a moment, causing him to curve his neck at an odd angle to create a more comfortable distance.

"Well, I guess there's no harm in trying some," he said, plucking the chocolate out of Anderson's waiting hand. "Mmm. This is good, what brand exactly is this-What?" Anderson now wore a disappointed look on his face, shoulders slumping slightly in dejection.

"I said it was good," He said as he chewed. "I don't exactly understand what's wrong."

"Ah, et's nothing. Ah was joos' expecting soomthing else."

"Like what? For me to reject it? Wouldn't that have been worse?"

"Nae nae, not tha'."

"Well what then?" Enrico snapped, frustrated at Anderson's odd behavior.

Anderson remained silent, blushing and turning his head away from Enrico's gaze.

"Answer me Alexander, this is getting silly. It's not like you were expecting me to eat it out of your ha-." Enrico stopped mid-word, eyes widening from the realization. His face then went through an amusing procession of varying facial expressions, switching from shock, disbelief; shock again, confusion, bafflement, consideration, and then finally becoming stable as his expression settled to one of seriousness.

"You wanted me to eat it out of your hand, didn't you?"

"Ah thought et wuid beh, Ah dinnae ken, sort o' sweet."

Enrico's face then switched again to one of agitation, eye-twitching in mild anger.

"You think demeaning myself is sweet! Does the idea entertain you?"

"Nae! Ah wasn't thinking o' et tha' way, et was joos' ae show o' affection, tha's all. Saerry." Anderson lowered his head in embarrassment, picking off another piece and nibbling on it demurely.

Enrico opened his mouth to continue his scathing remarks, but closed it when noticing the man's submissive demeanor. Deflating, he let out a weary sigh. He didn't know the exact reason, but he just didn't feel like continuing his assault. Maybe it was the pleasant weather penetrating his persona, or the lingering sleepiness of his afternoon nap still hanging over him. Truly, at the root of it all, the real reason was right in front of him, the show of meekness in his subordinate diffusing Enrico's anger before it could begin to grow to it's full capacity. Even one so accustomed to the frequent denial of his feelings couldn't ignore how placating Anderson could be when he was like this. And besides, how could he not be at least a bit flattered by Anderson's daring act of fondness; only he would care enough about Enrico to go as far as offering food to the serpent from out of his own hand.

"It's fine. It's too nice outside to fight anyways. This is good chocolate by the way, truly, a pleasant addition to the day."

Anderson looked up at him, still chewing the piece in his hand, a small smile crossing his features. "Ah collected ae few bars on a shopping trip one day, from ae small candy store by the market. Ah'll try tae remember to pick more oop next time, send ye back wit ae few." He swallowed the last of the chunk, and broke off another, repeating the process anew.

"That's very thoughtful of you, but I doubt I could eat many bars of it on a daily basis."

"Ye cuid eat soom and save the rest fer later. Keep et en yer desk and sooch."

"I suppose." Enrico watched Anderson's slow progress on his portion, uninterested at first, but a flight of whimsy suddenly came into his mind.

"Alex." He purred, grinning mischievously. He slid his body subtlety closer to Anderson's, movements resembling those of an elegant predator gliding towards its desired prey.

"Whit-huh!" Anderson exclaimed from the sudden surprise of feeling Maxwell's hand wrap around his wrist tightly, the grip pulling his hand away from his mouth and up closer to Maxwell's own. Trilling deeply in the back of his throat, Maxwell snapped at and deftly caught the piece in between his teeth, curling his tongue around it to guide it into his mouth, away and out of Anderson's paralyzed fingers. Anderson could only feel his face redden to a deep shade as Enrico, in an act of further torture, closed his eyes and drew the fingers into his warm mouth, sucking on them hard and teasingly, before finally ending the game by swirling his tongue over the tips of each digit in a flirtatious manner. A quiet moan escaped his lips as he pulled back at last, releasing Anderson's captive hand and letting it fall limply to the man's side. Sultry, smug eyes met Anderson's stunned ones, and for a moment Enrico let himself take in the sight of the completely flustered man.

"Why the surprise _Alexander_? Is that not what you originally had hoped for? Or do you not appreciate my affections?" He smirked as he wiped his mouth off with the back of his sleeve.

"Ah, nae, tha's nae, err." Anderson could do nothing but stumble and flounder over his words, unsurprising considering how taken off-guard the poor man had just been.

"Ah need, Ah need tae gae." He said, standing up stiffly.

"Oh? Why the rush? There's the whole rest of the day to enjoy."

"Ah 'ave, things tae dae, Aye. Uh, do ye, want the rest o' this?" He offered the rest of the chocolate to Enrico with a shaky hand.

Enrico waved off the offer. "No no, you keep it, I couldn't eat another bite." He said in a low voice, flicking his tongue over his lips.

He could of sworn he heard Anderson squeak in response to the action as he retracted his hand in a jerking motion. "Allrigh' well, Ah'll beh going then." He turned and began to walk away at a brisk pace.

"Have a good afternoon Father!" Enrico called out, snickering to himself as he watched Anderson virtually run off towards the main grounds.

"Well, might as return to what I was doing before, such days don't come around too often." Laying down once again across the bench, it only took him a few moments to find a favored position, and to drift off back to sleep under the lazy afternoon's warming rays.


End file.
